Claiming Film Tax Relief for Corporation Tax
Find out if you qualify for Corporation Tax Film Tax Relief and what you can claim.
Who can claim
Your company can claim Film Tax Relief on a film if:
- the film is certified as British by the British Film Institute
- it’s intended for theatrical release
- at least 10% of the ‘core costs’ relate to activities in the UK
Core costs are what’s spent on pre-production, principal photography and post-production.
Your company must be responsible for:
- pre-production
- principal photography
- post-production
- delivery of the completed film
You company must also:
- be actively engaged in planning and decision-making
- directly negotiate, contract and pay for rights, goods and services
Cultural test
To qualify for creative industry tax reliefs, all films must be certified as British. The film must pass a cultural test or qualify through an internationally agreed co-production treaty.
The British Film Institute manages certification and qualification on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The British Film Institute will issue:
- an interim certificate for uncompleted work
- a final certificate where production has finished
You can find more information about certification on the British Film Institute website.
What you can claim
You can claim an additional deduction to reduce your profits or to increase a loss. This will reduce the amount of any Corporation Tax you will need to pay.
The additional deduction will be the lower of either:
- 80% of total core costs
- the amount of UK core costs
If you make a loss, some or all of this loss can be surrendered for a payable tax credit at a rate of 25%.
When you can claim
You may make, amend or withdraw a claim to Film Tax Relief up to one year after the company’s filing date.
For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, you may make, amend or withdraw a claim to Film Tax Relief up to 2 years after the end of the period of account the claim relates to.
HMRC may agree to accept late claims in some circumstances.
How to claim
You can claim for relief on your Company Tax Return. You will need to calculate the amount of:
- additional deduction due to your company
- any payable credit due
From 1 April 2024, all claims must be accompanied by an additional information form. This will allow you to provide the necessary evidence to support your claim.
For each production you should provide:
- a British cultural certificate from the British Film Institute — if an interim certificate is provided, you must send the final certificate after the film is complete and the certificate must be in date when you submit it
- statements of the amount of core costs, split between UK and non-UK costs
- a breakdown of costs by category
Closure of Film Tax Relief — from 1 April 2027
Film Tax Relief will be closed to all productions from 1 April 2027. You may be able to continue to receive relief under the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit scheme.
You cannot claim Film Tax Relief for any productions that do not start principal photography by 31 March 2025. You may be able to claim an Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit instead.
Further information
You can find detailed guidance for film production companies, including examples of how the relief is calculated, in the Film Production Company Manual.
Updates to this page
Last updated 19 January 2024 + show all updates
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We have updated the page with information on the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit scheme and the closure of the Film Tax Relief scheme from 1 April 2027
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The 'How to claim' section has been updated with a link to 'Support your claim for creative industry tax reliefs' which explains how to provide evidence to support your creative industry reliefs claim.
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First published.